Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any Substitute Members, in accordance with paragraph 4.12 of the Harrow Partnership Governance Handbook.

AGREED:  To

(1)               note that no Substitute Members were in attendance;

(2)               note the apologies received.

(if any).

AGREED:  To note that the following interests were declared:

Agenda Item 5 – Local Area Agreement Reward Grant

Julie Browne declared a prejudicial interest in that she had been involved with a bid relating to the Cedars Centre for the allocation of the Reward Grant.  She would leave the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Agenda Item 5 – Local Area Agreement Reward Grant

Jacqui Mace declared a personal interest as the Further Education Representative in that there was a bid relating to setting up a subsidiary of Harrow College.  She would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

That the minutes of the Board Meeting held on 18 April 2011, having been circulated, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

AGREED: That the minutes of the Board meeting held on 18 April 2011, be taken as read and signed as a correct record subject to amending the attendance list to record Ann Groves as a representative of the Harrow Senior Residents Assembly.

Report of the Corporate Director Adults and Housing, Harrow Council.

The Corporate Director Adults and Housing, Harrow Council, introduced the report and commented that, nationally, there had been a lot of debate on the reform of the national health system.  This had resulted in the Government implementing a period of reflection to consider the views of a number of stakeholders.  The Corporate Director reported that:

·                    It was expected that the date for local authorities to assume their new public health responsibilities would take effect in April 2013.  Ring fenced grants from Central Government would be allocated to the Council for this purpose.  There was still clarification required on exactly what the Council would be responsible for, however this was expected to include health promotion.

·                    Health and Wellbeing Boards were being strengthened in a number of areas.  They would have a stronger role in promoting joint commissioning and additionally Clinical Commissioning Groups would not be able to be established before the Board had offered its views.  It was also envisaged that the Health and Wellbeing Boards would be Member-led, with the majority of members being elected Councillors.

·                    Work was conducted on the future role and structure of the Health and Wellbeing Board and the transition steps to move towards a shadow Health and Wellbeing Board.

·                    Collaboration was a key part of the implementation of reforms to public health.  Relationships between partners would be critical to achieving important outcomes.

·                    It was expected that further policy and guidance papers would be produced to inform the public health system reforms proposed.

·                    A London Health and Wellbeing Programme was offering funds to each developing Health and Wellbeing Board in London.

During the discussion on this item, Members of the Board raised a number of issues which were responded to as follows:

·                    It was expected that funding for public health would be based on a national formula. Previous deficits would not have an impact on the amount provided.

·                    It was anticipated that there would be further clarity on the proposals from Central Government in due course.  Relationships on specific issues required more detail and issues of duplication also needed to be addressed.

During the discussion on this item, Members of the Forum made a number of comments which included:

·                    There was concern regarding the financial affairs of the Primary Care Trust and how this would impact on the proposed reforms.

·                    It would be helpful if the Board received regular updates at its meetings on the progress of the public health system reforms.

AGREED:  That the report be noted.

Report of the Assistant Chief Executive, Harrow Council.

The Divisional Director Partnership Development and Performance, Harrow Council, introduced the report and explained that the Board had previously agreed on 18 April 2011 to align the additional Local Area Agreement (LAA) Reward Grnt against the new priorities for the Partnership.  The Harrow Chief Executives (HCE) had met on 13 June 2011, and scored the business cases submitted.  The business cases which scored the highest and which the HCE felt best demonstrated value for money, were sustainable and had the best chance of delivering successful outcomes had been proposed to the Board for approval.

The Divisional Director also reported that:

·                    Two bids had been received which looked at developing voluntary and community premises.  To fit in with the consultation about the form and purpose of the CVS, it was recommended that £60,000 be set aside to be the subject of a further proposal at the end of the consultation process.

·                    The total amount allocated, if the proposals were agreed, was £445,419 revenue and £96,482 capital.  It was also recommended that the remaining capital grant be set aside as Partnership reserves.

During the discussion on this item, Members of the Forum raised a number of queries, which were responded to as follows:

·                    It was accepted that more details should have been included on the report about lines of responsibility for each of the business cases proposed.  This detail was reflected in the documents posted on the website and all Members of the Board could view these documents at www.harrow.gov.uk/HSPFund.  The HCE would monitor the projects on a quarterly basis to ensure that the grant was being effectively used.  If anything required reviewing, this would be brought back to the Board.

·                    If the proposals were agreed, officers would contact the successful applicants and request them to finalise their business cases and address any further questions.  A service level agreement would be required to be completed after which funding would be released on a staged basis.

During the discussion on this item, Members of the Forum commented that it would be helpful if the Board saw the first two quarterly reports providing information on the performance of the projects proposed to assess whether they would be successful or not.  This would be particularly helpful for the Circles of Support Project on which objections had been raised.

AGREED:  That

(1)               the funding recommendations of the Harrow Chief Executives in relation to the Local Area Agreement Reward Grant allocation be endorsed and approved;

(2)               the Board receive regular update reports on the Local Area Agreement Reward Grant allocation.

Report of the Assistant Chief Executive, Harrow Council.

An officer introduced the report and explained that the Board had considered the four proposed partnership priorities and desired outcomes at its last meeting on 18 April 2011.  No further comments had been received on the priorities having been circulated shortly after the previous meeting.

During the discussion on this item, Members of the Forum raised a number of queries, which were responded to as follows:

·                    The priorities were a list of aspirations and strategic priorities which the Partnership would wish to be associated with.  The specific actions resulting from these would be presented to the Board in due course.

·                    More specific information relating to the priorities would be presented to future meetings of the Board which would also include information on base line data to assist the Board in identifying achievements made.

·                    The priorities proposed were presented to the last Board meeting and reflected the discussion that took place and the issues highlighted.

During the discussion on this item, a Member of the Board commented that the report required further detail and information particularly addressing accountability and risk.

RESOLVED:  That the Partnership Priorities and Outcomes be adopted as proposed.

Report of the Assistant Chief Executive, Harrow Council.

An officer introduced the report and reported that the Partnership Structure Consultation Document had been presented to the previous Board meeting on 18 April 2011.  Members of the Board had been invited to comment on the proposals.  Some comments had been received which had been taken into account and reflected in the proposals submitted at this meeting.

The officer reported that the proposed changes to the structure would involve:

·                    Creating an Assembly which would meet twice a year to discuss themed issues.

·                    Reducing the size of the current Board.  This would meet four times a year and deal with business items.

·                    Streamlining the management groups and bodies.  This involved disbanding the Community Cohesion Management Group and creating a smaller transition task and finish group, tasked with embedding community cohesion across the Partnership workplan and groups.

·                    Following the consultation, the number of representatives of the voluntary and community sector had been increased to 3.

·                    Following consultation, new criteria for the business representatives had been proposed.

·                    Following consultation, sustainability and community cohesion would be underlying principles in the work of the partnership.

·                    The structure diagram of the Partnership had been altered to represent a more embedded and integrated engagement model.

During the discussion on this item, Members of the Board raised a number of issues which included that:

·                    Terms of reference for the Assembly and Board would be established if the proposals were agreed.

·                    Those not on the Board could keep up to date as the papers for meetings were available publicly and the meeting was also a public meeting.

·                    Officers would be strongly encouraging all partners to contribute to the agenda items ahead of the Assembly meetings.  This would contribute towards making them successful.

During the discussion on this item, Members of the Board commented that the number of business representatives on the Board should be increased to two.  This was reflective of an increase on the impact that commerce would have in the borough in the future.  There were a number of small and large businesses in Harrow that needed to be represented.

The Board agreed that the membership of the business sector representatives should be increased to two in the proposals considered by the Board.

AGREED:  That

(1)               an Assembly be created, made up of the existing Partnership Board members, including a Central North West London Foundation Trust representative, plus the chair of Greener Harrow and a representative of Harrow Equality Centre;

(2)               to hold an Assembly at least two times a year, following scheduled Partnership Board meetings;

(3)               to hold at least one Summit a year;

(4)               for the Partnership Board to consist of the following members:

•                     the Leader of the Council;

•                     one other majority party Councillor;

•                     one minority party Councillor;

•                     three representatives of the voluntary and community sector; (via an election process)

•                     two representatives of the business community;

•                     one representative of the PCT;

•                     one GP representative;

•                     one representative of the North West London Hospital NHS Trust;

•                     one representative  ...  view the full minutes text for item 62.

The next Board Meeting is scheduled for 11 October 2011.

AGREED: To note that the date of the next meeting of the Board would be held on 11 October 2011.